A Man with a Stone Heart and a Cold Stare
by sakura314
Summary: Before the events of the game. A girl named Akina finds herself in the middle of a huge dilemma. After a somewhat rough meeting with Albel Nox she is told about a problem that he needs to take care of, and he's actually asking someone for help. [AlbelxOC]
1. The Encounter

This is my first attempt at a fan fiction. So go easy on me alright? I'm a huge fan of Albel so I just had to do something. So here's yet another Albel the Wicked fan fiction to add to the collection! The story is told from the point of view of a girl named Akina.

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Chapter 1 **_The Encounter_**

Some say that he is the most skilled swordsman on the entire planet. They speak of him like he is some infectious disease that you can catch at any moment. I could never understand why they feared him so much and spoke so cruelly of him. At least...not until the day that I actually saw him in person for the first time. I had seen photos but seeing him in the flesh was completely different. He was just walking down the streets of Kirsla in the middle of the night for no apparent reason. The man that came to be called Albel The Wicked.

I was at the Kirsla inn that night. I was on my way to Aqios. I had heard that there was a brand new shipment of double-edged swords that had come in just the other day and I desperately needed a new one. They seemed to be so hard to find these days. All I could ever find was a Katana, which I could never learn to control very well. So I knew right away that it was true that this Albel was very skilled with a blade when I noticed the sheath and a Katana, connected to his thigh. To be able to wield a sword that complex you had to have lot of balance and control in your movements. I felt so intimidated by him because of this, I didn't want to admit it, but he really did look powerful walking by himself out there on the dark streets. I watched him as he walked down the steps that led down to the closed off caverns. I suddenly had the urge to follow him. I wanted to know just how powerful that this man was. I wondered if he was as skilled as they all said he was. I mean come on, there was no way that he was_ that _good, I figured he was just all talk. But was he as cruel and ruthless as everyone claimed that he was? I knew that this was probably very foolish of me but, I grabbed my sword, connected it to my belt and ran out the door hoping to catch up with him.

However, I wouldn't need to worry about catching up with him for long. As soon as I got to the bottom of the steps to the caverns I suddenly felt a tight pressure on my wrist, I almost fell over because it had happened so fast. I quickly turned around to find out that Albel had gripped me by the wrist with a clawed gauntlet that went up all the way to his shoulder. I couldn't believe that I hadn't ever noticed it before. I found myself wondering what had happened to him. He must have noticed that I was staring because he tightened his grip to the point where I wanted to scream.

"Hey what's the matter with you! Are you _trying _to break off my wrist!" I yelled at him. A smirk formed on his lips.

"What a stupid question that is. I knew you were a fool..." he waited a moment "...of _course_ I am." His smirk widened. Probably because of the expression on my face. I knew that it was what he was expecting from me. I looked down at my wrist and noticed that it was bleeding heavily.

"Do you always just grab and hurt people that just happen to walk past you?" I asked him

"Depends on who they are, or if I find them suspicious. But that's really none of your business is it, worm?" He said with a smug look on his face

"So, why me?" I asked

"Don't try to play dumb, fool. You don't think I noticed you staring at me as I walked past you back there? I knew you'd be stupid enough to follow me here." This must have distracted him slightly because his grip loosened a little. I pulled back, hoping to get out of his grasp. However, his grip instantly tightened again making that a very painful move.

"Stop trying to run fool. It won't work. You brought this upon yourself by following me here." He said with his usual expression of anger and hatred. He really was ruthless, I knew now why he was the leader of the Black Brigade. He started to tighten his grip even more. I gritted my teeth to stop myself from screaming and waking up all of Kirsla. I clenched my fist trying to stop myself from crying, but there was nothing I could do about my tears. They were falling onto my wrist, along with the gauntlet that gripped it, I just couldn't stop. I didn't dare look up at him. Thinking it would give him pleasure knowing that I was in so much pain, he wanted me to scream, I knew he did. But I wouldn't give into him so easily.

"Let me go!" I reached down, pulled out my sword, and slashed at his other arm. Albel was taken aback by this unexpected attack. His reflexes made him let go of my wrist and grab his own arm. I should have taken this opportunity to run, but I wasn't finished with him yet. Then I reached out to cut his leg. He tried to block this move but his reaction time was too late.

"Damn!" Albel cried out in pain. Then I got too cocky. I went in for a third strike but this time I was too slow, his katana was out now and it clashed with my own sword. The wounds that I had inflicted on Albel didn't seem to phase him at all anymore. He was completely focused on me. He pushed me back with his sword. I fell onto the ground. I realized then what a huge mistake I had made. He was way stronger than I was. I had a feeling I was going to die, I was just hoping he would do it quickly. I stood up but of course, he anticipated this and lunged at me, pinning me on the ground. His gauntlet was gripping my throat to the point where it too, was bleeding. I was planning to injure him again to get away but my sword had flung out of my hand.

"Who the hell do you think you're dealing with, huh! Do you have any idea who I am!" his blood red eyes were fixed on mine. They overwhelmed me, I could tell he wanted to kill me. When I didn't answer, He put his katana at my stomach and started to cut me. The cut wasn't deep enough to kill me but it was enough to make me scream. I was shaking uncontrollably and I could hardly breathe. I thought I was dying, that's what it felt like. I wanted it all to end.

"You...truly are...A-Albel the Wicked." I managed to say to him. His eyes narrowed, he was still looking straight at me, he was smiling. He was obviously happy to be called by that name. But his expression was different from before it was almost...softer, I didn't know why. Then everything started to blur before me. The last thing I remember before I passed out was him letting me go, getting up, and walking away...laughing softly to himself.

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I know, I know it's pretty short. But it seemed like such a good place to end the first chapter. Hopefully they won't all turn out that way. Please review and tell me what you think! Or let me know if anything seems out of place or strange to you. 


	2. Dream or Reality

I still can't think of a good way to put this into the story. So here's a description of Akina.

Age - 21

Height - 5' 8"

Weight - 140

Hair color - Black with dark purple streaks

Eye color - Red

Clothes - A Black tank top with a thick, dark purple stripe down the center. lacy black arm warmers, black shorts with two small dark purple side dusters attached. Black boots with dark purple laces and no heel.

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Chapter 2 **_Dream or Reality_**

When I woke up the next morning, I was in a place that I didn't recognize. I knew that I was still in Kirsla, but where in Kirsla I wasn't sure. I was in a truly extravagant room. As I looked around the room I noticed that all of my things were here, my backpack, my sword, my clothes, along with everything else that I had. As I went to sit up and all of the sudden the events of last night came back in one huge jab of pain.

"Ah! God that hurt!" I yelled, noticing that someone had bandaged them all up. I started to hear footsteps coming toward the room. I was getting a little nervous, when the door opened a young girl in a maid uniform came walking in with a tray of medicines. She had red, shoulder-length hair with dark pink tips, and her eyes were green. She had a very kind appearance.

"I just _knew_ you'd wake up and hurt yourself." She said with a smile

"Yeah, I guess you were right miss...um..."

"Call me Saku." She said, walking over to me with the medicine.

"Saku...um...would you mind telling me where I am?" I asked

"Oh, yes, I'm sorry you're currently in the castle of Kirsla, under the care of Lord Woltar. The Young Master brought you here late last night. You're quite lucky, if he hadn't brought you here you would be in a very severe state, maybe even dead. What happened to you? you were pretty beat up." she asked, as she handed me the medicine. I took them one at a time.

"You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you...now who's the Young Master?"

"Ah...he asked for me not to say, he wanted to introduce himself in person."

"Oh, alright then. Thank you very much for helping me out with the pain of these wounds."

"It's not a problem, it is my job. Now you should get some more rest. If you wake before I return, feel free to walk about the castle, if you wish."

"OK, I will then, Thank you very much."

"Your welcome." Then she stood up and walked out the door. The medicine was already starting to take effect. I laid back down and soon after fell asleep again.

_There was nothing but darkness all around me, I was all alone and scared. Different forms of Dragons were coming at me from all directions. I was having trouble killing them off. But as soon as the last dragons were gone I heard the sound of footsteps. I couldn't tell if they were from a dragon or a human or what direction they were coming from. Then a dark figure appeared before me they held out there hand. I hesitated but slowly lowered my sword and grasped the hand held out to me. They led me through the darkness. Fighting off the enemies that came after us. Suddenly after a lot of twists and turns it became lighter and I saw the exit soon after, I ran to it, completely forgetting about the person that led me out. I then realized where I had been. I was in the closed off caverns within Kirsla. There was still blood on the ground from the ordeal from the other night. Then I remembered my rescuer, I wanted to thank them. But before I got the chance to turn around there was a sword piercing into my back right through my stomach. I looked down at it, stunned, I just I couldn't believe it. The sword was pulled out and I fell to the ground, unable to move. I was just barely alive. I was turned to face the one that had stabbed me. It was Albel. I just looked at him, struggling to stay conscious. Then he bent down looked into my eyes. He had whispered something to me but it was too quiet to hear. Then before I knew what was happening...he was kissing me. There was nothing I could do about it, I couldn't even move. My mind was racing, I didn't understand any of it, why would he stab me then kiss me? Why would he even kiss me at all? None of it made any sense at all._

I woke up damp with sweat. I wasn't sure if it was a side-effect of the medicine or that nightmare I just had. I looked outside the window. It looked like if was just after noon. I got up slowly, the medicine had been able to suppress most of the pain. I put on the dress that was set out for me and went into the bathroom to survey the damage Albel had done to my wrist, and it wasn't too good. Neither was my neck or my stomach.

"Damn that Albel Nox. I can't wait to see him again, I'll kill him." I took a moment and thought about what I just said. Remembering both last night, and my dream of him stabbing me through and through. "I'll wait until I become a little stronger, _then_ I'll kill him." I decided to myself. Then I heard a knock on the door. I walked out into the bedroom again. "Come in." It was the young girl Saku again, this time with food.

"Ah, so you're up and walking, that's good. That means the damage isn't as bad as we all thought." she said. I nodded. "Here this is for you, compliments of Lord Woltar and his chefs." She said as she handed me the food.

"It looks delicious, I'll have to thank them." Not only did the food look good, it tasted great. Very well prepared. I hadn't had food that good in a long time. Ages it seemed.

"By the way, when can I meet the one who rescued me and Lord Woltar? They have been so nice to me. I really want to thank them for everything that they have done."

"You can meet them any time you wish, they are both here now, so when you want to see them just head down the stairs and turn left. You should reach the audience chamber. They are anxious to speak with you as well. Which reminds me they did have one request, they wish to know your name before you meet them."

"My name is Akina."

"Thank you, I will go let them know that you will be seeing them soon. How long would you say?"

"Probably in about 30 minutes."

"Okay, I will let them know, I'll be back later this evening to check your wounds." She said as she left the room. I suddenly felt very uneasy, like something bad would happen to me again right at that moment. I guess it could have been my nerves acting up, but I couldn't help but feel like something was going to go wrong. I finished eating, got ready, then went down the stairs and found the audience chamber. It wasn't really big, nothing like the chamber in Aqios. There was an elderly man sitting in the large throne but no one else was there, at least no one that I could see.

"Welcome, you are Akina, correct?" Woltar asked

"Yes sir, I am."

"I am Woltar, lord of the city of Kirsla."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir."

"Please, just call me Woltar." Just then a man came walking into the room. "Ah...here he is, Akina I'd like you to meet the one that brought you here and saved you." I turned to see who it was. My heart dropped to the floor. The "Young Master" that saved my life was also the one that could have destroyed it. My savior was...Albel Nox.

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Wow, I'm getting this written a lot faster than I thought I would! Though I don't think this chapter is very good. It'll get better, I promise! Again please review! Thanks goes out to Miss Nox for telling me what she thought! 


	3. Explanations

Hey, here's chapter 3 for ya! I'll be writing more soon. since school is almost over.(yay!) anyway here it is!

Disclaimer: I own Akina and Saku that's it. I don't own Albel. >> but I wish I did!

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Chapter 3 **_Explanations_**

I looked at him in amazement. I thought that maybe I was just seeing things. "You, _you_ are the one that brought me here!" I asked, stunned.

"Are you surprised by this, Akina?" Woltar asked.

"Greatly."

"Why is that?" Woltar asked, looking surprised.

"This may be the man the saved my life...but he's also the one that almost killed me in the first place!" I said. For some reason I found that I was becoming very angry with Albel and, even myself, I couldn't put it all together, nothing was adding up. Why? Why would he save me after all that? He looked like he truly wanted to kill me, but instead he saves me?

"I'm so confused." I whispered

"Is this true Albel?" Woltar asked

"Yeah, what of it? I saved her didn't I? I could have just as easily have left her there to rot into the ground. I'm starting to think that's what I should've done. Besides it's not _really_ my fault anyway, she was following me so I had to teach her a lesson, it's her own fault."

"_My_ fault! Oh no, the only thing that is my fault are those bandages on you arm and leg!" I yelled. Woltar took a look at the bandages. Then looked right at me.

"You actually caught him off guard _twice_...amazing, no one has been able to do that in years. You must be talented with a blade." Woltar said

"_Really_?" I looked at him, his eyes narrowed.

"Hmph...she just got lucky, that's all. Besides, what would it have mattered? I still would have killed her _if _I had wanted to."

"This is true. Which brings me to the question, why didn't you kill her Albel? This is the first time that you haven't killed your opponent. Why did you bring her here?"

"I'd like to know that myself." I said. Albel became very defensive at this question. He crossed his arms over his chest and hung his head down, but I think that was the first time I saw the expression change on Albel's face. I guess he wasn't expecting us to ask that. And even though that change in his face was only for a moment, it was still nice to know that he had emotions other than hate, greed, and arrogance. It let me know that he was actually human. There was a long silence in the room. You could tell Albel didn't want to say.

"...She...could be...useful...to me." Albel said quietly, not looking up at us. It might have just been my imagination but, I swear that Albel went red in face a little when he said that.

"Useful, what do you mean by that exactly?" I asked

"Ah...I know what it is now...So that's why." Woltar said to himself

"What is it, then?" I asked

"There's something that Albel must do, but he can't do it alone." Woltar said

"What's that?" I asked, looking over at Albel

"You'll have to explain the rest, Albel." Woltar said. Albel suddenly looked up, then rolled his eyes.

"Why do I have to tell her?"

"Because, it's your problem." He said as he left the room. Chuckling to himself. Albel watched him, cursing him as he left.

"Will you just tell me what's going on here, please?" I asked him. Albel sighed

"Fine. You have heard of the Urssa Lava Caves, correct?"

"Yes, I have. I have gone there on a few occasions also." I said. Albel looked at me, surprised.

"Really? Well then maybe you're not as much of a fool as I thought. But we'll see, I'm probably wrong." Albel said. There was that annoying smirk again. He thought he was so much better than me. Which wasn't even true, he just caught me off guard last time, sure he was able to pin me to the ground and would have probably won that last fight, but he didn't have to be so arrogant about it. He wouldn't get so lucky next time.

"You still haven't told me why you need my help." I said

"I don't need your _help_. I just need a woman with the strength to keep up with me down there." Albel said. Wow, he just gave me a compliment, not directly but, a compliment nonetheless. "Anyway, there is a place that is within those caves, called the Urssa Cave Temple. There is someone down there that needs to be dealt with. That's where you come in, I need you to fight him with me, not saying I couldn't easily kill him by myself if this little problem didn't exist. But I can't kill him alone, there has to be a woman, and from what I've seen your as good as I'm gonna get."

"There has to be a woman, why?"

"He has a barrier that can only be broken if there is a man and a woman there. There isn't any other way to kill him, unless that barrier is broken, he can't die. Trust me, I've tried to find other ways. But every time...he struck me down." You could tell he was becoming angry thinking about this. He must really hate losing. "I can't force you to go. So you can refuse...but keep in mind if you do refuse, I won't be so kind next time I see you on the street, I _will_ kill you." He was looking me right in the eye as he said that, but I wasn't going to let it get to me.

"Your threats won't work on me. So how long do I have to decide?"

"Until your wounds heal. Which won't be too long. I didn't go all out on you like I should have."

"Oh really, so you do have some compassion for others." I said, crossing my arms.

"Bah, compassion is for the weak, I have no such feeling."

"Whatever you say." I said as I turned to leave. He didn't say a word as I left but I could feel him watching me, I went back up the stairs and Woltar was there. Talking to the young woman, Saku the one that had been caring for me. I walked in on their conversation.

"Well, that's good. I hope all goes well." Saku said

"She is a kind soul, I can tell. I think she will help him out. Besides fate has set her as a child fond of red. She might actually enjoy this, just as I know Albel will."

"Do you think that he might..."

"I'm not sure Saku, but maybe."

"Might what?" I said as I walked up to them. Their faces turned to me, surprised.

"Might actually beat Romero with you there to help. Have you decided if you are going to help yet?" Woltar asked. Quickly changing the subject. I shook my head.

"No, I'm not sure what to do just yet. I need some time to think it over."

"Okay, then. There's no rush, take your time. And regardless of what Albel told you, you may refuse without fear. Okay?"

"Yes, thank you."

"Now if you don't mind Akina, could you please follow me, I need to check and rebandage your wounds." Saku said

"Oh, yes. Of course, I'll be there in just a minute," I said as Saku walked into the room, "I never got a chance to thank you earlier. Thanks for everything, Woltar." I said

"No need to thank me, Thank Albel. He's the one that saved you."

"Can you let him know I said thanks, then?" I asked. I don't think I would be able to thank him myself. Even though, in my mind, he didn't deserve a "thank you" since he's the one that hurt me at the start.

"Absolutely, Akina. Goodnight then." Woltar said

"Goodnight." I said as he went back down the stairs. I went into my room.

"Ow! Geez these things hurt, I can't imagine what it would be like if he had gone all out."

"Master Albel can be quite ruthless sometimes. But he's alright once you get to know him a little better." Saku said as he began to unbandage the wounds.

"I-ah!" she had to put on the antiseptic, it hurt a little bit, "I hope so."

"There it's done. They're actually not that bad, they should be better in a few days. Do you want the pain medicine?"

"Yes, please." I said. She handed me the tray. I took the pills, hoping that I would sleep easier tonight, with no nightmares. That wasn't going to happen.

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Again review please! Pretty please! Only three reviews so far...and considering how many people have at least clicked on my story that's not a whole lot. I'm willing to take criticism (as long as it's constructive) and again Thanks to Miss Nox and Icold5 for reviewing it! 


	4. Interrogations, Miracles, & Argreements

Jeez...sorry it took so long to update this thing. I have to admit I completely forgot about it -- Well I put in a little extra effort this time around to make up for it, I'm really close to being done with the next chapter!

Disclaimer: I own Akina and everything else that I make-up, thats it.

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Chapter 4 **_Interrogations, Miracles, and Agreements_**

_I was in the mountains of Barr, training. Fighting everything I saw, beating all of them effortlessly. I came across an air dragon. I knew it wasn't a good idea to fight one especially not on your own. It was massive. I was searching for a way around the creature, when I heard someone coming up behind me. It was someone that looked a lot like Albel but...I was sure it wasn't. He walked past me as if I wasn't even there, went right up to the air dragon and took out his katana. He started yelling at it and fighting it. He was losing, it was injuring him badly. But his own rage was pushing him on. I heard someone else coming I swung around...it was a teenage boy, and then I realized that the man that was fighting the dragon must've been Albel's father. I knew in my heart that this boy was Albel. Again he never even noticed me there. He took out his own sword and went to help his father. The dragon noticed the boy running at him and suddenly lost all interest in Albel's father. It went straight for him mouth open ready to kill him with it's fire breath. Albel never stopped running, until I noticed his father get up and run in front of his son. I gasped as I watched the dragon shoot fire out on his father. Albel reached out to him but his arm hit the flame burning it badly...he pulled back. I started to cry when I saw Albel fall to the ground, paralyzed from fear. He too, was crying, looking at his father dead on the ground before him. He looked up at the dragon, it just flew off, sparing Albel's life. He screamed at it to come back...but it never did. Then it appeared that Albel was looking right at me, crying still. Just as I was. "Don't be like me..." he said "...be able to protect the people you care about most." _

I woke up to someone banging on my door. I must've been crying in my sleep...my cheeks were wet. Then my door swung open, Albel charging inside.

"Get up fool. You need to start moving so your wounds heal as quickly as possible."

"You actually want me to get better now?" I asked. Albel's face got really defensive. Not wanting me to think he actually cared about someone other than himself.

"Bah, I only want you to get better so we can leave to take care of my little problem, in case you forgot fool."

"Who said I'm even going to go with you. I haven't made my decision yet." I said. Albel didn't say a word but I knew he was wondering if he just blew any chance of me going with him. It took me a while to notice that he was staring at me.

"Yes?"

"You've been crying in your sleep all night. Why? It's bothersome." He asked. I wiped my cheeks realizing that they were still wet.

"Ah, so you _do _care a little about me." Albel flinched when he heard me say that, then quickly answered,

"Not at all, worm. Just wanted to know so I can make you stop. So I can actually get some sleep." He was blushing, slightly. I was about to tell him...but then I realized I couldn't tell him. Not without having me go red in the face too.

"Well?" He asked, getting impatient with me.

"Nightmares."

"Nightmares? Of what?"

"I can't...tell you." Albel heard that and suddenly became very interested in knowing what my nightmares were about. He was questioning me. He wouldn't let it go. He really wanted to know just because I said that I wouldn't tell him.

"You really don't like it when people say you can't know something, don't you?" I asked, irritated

"Yes, that and the fact that I love to argue with people till they reach their breaking point." He said, laughing

"You're horrible."

"I try to be."

"Albel? Why are you in here?" Woltar asked. Woltar and Saku were coming up to check on me. Albel never answered, just stared at him. I noticed that Saku had some bandages in her hand.

"Was he bothering you?" Woltar asked. Albel looked at me. It was like he was begging me to say no.

"No, not really" I said. Albel exhaled, relieved that I had been kind enough to cover for him. But Woltar saw right through it, I could tell.

"Okay, as long as he's not bothering you, _he_ can stay and help." Woltar said

"Help...with what?" Albel asked

"Rebandaging the wounds that you inflicted on the poor girl, you brute." Saku said. Albel's eyes narrowed.

"I did what needed to be done, and nothing more."

"Oh, so you _needed _to hurt her like this?" Saku asked

"Yes, to let her know who she was dealing with." He said as Saku began to undo the bandages.

"Albel, don't just stand there, get over here and help, it's the least you can do for her." Saku said sharply. Albel stood there for a moment before answering

"Fine..but don't think think this means you can order me around" Albel said

"Well, you say you needed to show me who I was dealing with. You accomplished your goal, I know now that I'm dealing with a stubborn, ruthless, and self-centered man." I said. Albel nodded his head as he walked over to me and he started to unwrap the bandage on my wrist.

"As long as you understand." he said, looking right at me. I couldn't help but wonder why he wanted people to think of him that way. Why he thought he had to prove himself by fighting. Why he _wanted_ people to hate him.

"I don't believe this..." Saku said

"What?" I asked

"They're gone...all of the wounds are...gone. Look." She was right. I didn't believe it myself. Albel finished unwrapping the bandage on my wrist and that one was gone too.

"But how?" Albel asked

"I don't know." I said

"Is there any pain?" Saku asked

"No, there isn't any pain at all." I said

"What a mysterious woman you are...well, that means you need to make up your mind today what your going to do." Albel said

"Yeah...okay." I said as he left the room with Saku. I was still trying to figure out how I healed so fast. After I had made my decision, that night I got changed into my normal clothes. When I was ready I went down into the audience chamber. Both Albel and Woltar were there.

"Have you made a decision?" Woltar asked

"I have."

"And?" Albel said, anxious to know what I had decided.

"After careful consideration…I decided…that I'll help you." I said. I don't think I've ever seen Albel look so pleased.

"That's wonderful! I'm glad. Is there anything you need for the trip?" Woltar asked. I suddenly remembered that I needed to go to Aqios to buy that sword, I told him what I needed and Albel said that we would head there tomorrow morning.

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I know, waited a long time for a little chapter. but like I said before, next chapter is REALLY close and again PLEASE leave a review! It really doesn't take that long, five minutes tops! C'mon is it so much to ask? I'd do it for you 


	5. Cursed

Oh my gosh, i'm soooo sorry guys! I just recently recieved a review form a fan of the story and suddenly remembered I haven't been posting the new chapters!! Well, I am now, so if you'll ever forgive me, I'll continue with the story, again I'm sooo sorry. Here's chapter 5

Disclaimer - I own nothing except the characters I created myself

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Chapter 5 **_Cursed_**

I had my first good nights sleep in that castle that night. I woke up early, so I decided to go out around the town for a while. I got some supplies while I was out, and I passed by the inn. I looked down the steps to the caverns, no one was down there. Our footsteps were still in the sand, along with our blood. I shivered remembering that night. I walked down the steps, constantly looking behind me, I was watching for Albel but there was ever anyone there. Though, as soon as my foot hit that sand it was like watching my entire experience happen over again. I remembered how scared I was when he gripped my throat, and the pain from him cutting my stomach and my wrist. Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder I gripped it out of fear and flipped it over me. Then I realized what I had done, I flipped Albel over my shoulder onto the ground in front of me.

"What the hell was that for?!" Albel gasped. I ran over to him.

"I'm so sorry! You startled me that's all. You came down so quietly." I said as I offered my hand to help him up. He shoved it out of the way.

"I was _talking_ to you as I was coming down, fool!"

"You were?"

"Yes. I asked you what you were doing down here."

"I'm _really_ sorry! I didn't do it on purpose, I swear!"

"Hmph...just don't let it happen again, worm." He said as he walked back up the steps. " What are you waiting for, an invitation? C'mon we have to get to Aqios." He said looking back at me.

"Oh, right."

"Fool."

"Are you ever going to stop calling me a fool and a worm?" I asked following him out of Kirlsa.

"Only when you prove to me that your not. Which I don't see happening soon…or ever." Albel said with a smirk.

"You really are a brute, you know that? And by the way, you still haven't said thank you to me for coming with you." I said. He looked over at me. He had a very serious look on his face.

"And don't expect to get one from me either."

"Come on, it's the least you can do after-"

"After you flipped me over your shoulder onto the ground." Albel interrupted. Looking at me still with that same serious look.

"I apologized for that already..._twice_!"He was starting to irritate me. I could tell that this was going to be a long trip. We reached Arias without any enemy encounters, but as we started walking through Arias, everyone was staring at us. I was really uncomfortable.

"Albel, why are they staring at us?" I asked. He didn't answer just kept walking forward. I noticed that his hand was really close to his katana. I didn't come to this town often but I never got the impression that they would act like this just because one person working with Airyglyph happened to walk by. It was a relief when we left and got onto the Palamira Plains.

"Wow, were they nervous or what?" I asked. Albel sighed and shook his head.

"Fool, they weren't nervous... they were angry. I knew it would be like that but that was really bad." Albel shook his head and we walked into Peterney. We were silent the rest of the way to Aqios.

"So where is that sword anyway?" Albel asked.

"Ummm"

"Don't tell me you don't know."

"I'm sorry...lets start looking here." Albel rolled his eyes and followed me inside. We weren't looking for too long until Albel found it on a shelf.

"Is this what your looking for?" Albel walked over to me with a shining double-edged sword that had a red gem embedded in the sheath. I took it out and made a few practice moves with it. It handled well.

"Yep, this is the one."

"You might want to take a look at the price of it first." Albel said. I looked at it. My eyes widened.

"You can't afford it, can you?" Albel asked. I shook my head. I went over to put it back on the shelf but Albel stopped me.

"I'll get it for you." He said. I couldn't believe my ears.

"What?" he took the sword from me and handed it to the clerk. Paid for it and gave it back to me.

"Here. Take it."

"Thanks, but I don't understand. Why are you doing this for me?" I asked, taking the sword from him.

"I expect something in return."

"What's that?"

"I need you to promise me something." Albel looked very serious, he was looking right into my eyes. "Promise me you won't run...won't run away from this. It's not going to be easy. But just promise me that you will not run away."

"...I promise...I swear I won't run away. No matter what happens. But can you answer one question?"

"What is it?"

"Why does this Romero need to be killed so badly? What has he done?" I asked. Then Albel started to walk out of Aqios, I followed him, then he stopped in the middle of the bridge.

"He...has set a curse on me. I need to kill him within the next eight days or...My soul will belong to him...and I will be dead"

"W-What?" I didn't believe what I was hearing. I felt myself starting to get choked up, I knew I was going to start crying. I didn't really _like_ Albel, but I didn't hate him enough to not cry. He turned around to face me. His eyes weren't tearing, but I knew he was sad. But being who he is, he never would show it in a place like this.

"Stop crying, you fool. I thought that you hated me." I looked up at him, straight into his eyes.

"Why...why do you want everyone to hate you?!"

"It's easier that way. You're not committed to anyone but yourself."

"You're the fool. Not _me_ or anyone else...just you. What a sad life you live. You're trying to make it so no one will miss you when you're gone...just in case we fail, aren't you?!"

"I guess I am aren't I? But why do you care so much about it?" He said as he turned to head into the inn, it was dark by now. We weren't going anywhere else tonight.

"Because...no one should live their life that way!" I followed him into the inn. We had to share the same room because of the price of the sword. But there were two beds, Thank god. We were both silent the rest of the night.

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There you go, again, I'll ask you all to please review! I promise to continue a a decent pace now, because I've had a lot of free time on my hands anyway. so now i'll have something to do with my extra time! 


	6. Bonding

Well, I already finished chapter 6 now, yay me! Anywho this chapter seemed to come easily for me for some reason, hope you like it!

Disclaimer - I own only the characters/items I create. I do not own Star Ocean.

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Chapter 6 **_Bonding_**

I didn't sleep much that night, not only was I worried about Albel, I had both of those nightmares in one night. They were exactly the same as before. When I woke up Albel was still sleeping. I couldn't help but stare at him. He was at ease for once, without such an angry expression on his face. I noticed his sword leaning on the chair right by him, next to my own. I reached out to take it, but I found myself stopping, looking back at him again. I sat down on the side of his bed, he never even moved.

"Heh...must be a heavy sleeper...that could be the cause of his death someday..." I thought about his curse again...and again I started to cry.

"Why _do_ I care about this so much?" I took his hand...without even thinking about it. I instantly let go again. Shaking my head.

"What am I doing?" I stood up, took my sword, and left the room. I closed the door behind me. Looking at my hand. I couldn't believe what I had just done. I decided to go for a walk to take my mind off him. I wanted to test out my new sword on the monsters around the outside of town anyway. It worked perfectly. I was killing everything that came at me. I decided to go after something stronger than what I was used to. To see just how much the sword increased my attack power. That was a mistake on my part. I shouldn't have tried to do it alone. The creature knocked me on the ground, I could tell it was going to use another one of its wind attacks. And I didn't have any time to run from it... I was flown into the air again and again. I finally hit the ground. Then to my surprise the creature disappeared right before my eyes. Revealing Albel behind it, sword in hand. He saved my life... yet again.

"What are you doing? Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Albel asked calmly. Offering his hand to help me up. This surprised me, I took it, but then I suddenly remembered what I had done earlier. Without thinking, I let go and fell backwards. Albel tried to stop me from falling, he grabbed my hand, but that only caused him to fall right on top of me. After we hit the ground, Albel sighed.

"_Why _did you let go?" He asked, never moving. He was looking at me... puzzled, he looked slightly irritated too. I had a sudden vision back to the night Albel and I first met. His gauntlet around my throat. Then in an instant it was gone.

"I... I don't know." I felt myself going red in the face. He never once broke eye contact.

"You're a poor liar, you know that?" He said, getting up. He offered his hand again.

"I'm... not lying." I said taking his hand.

"I think you are, now are you going to let go again?" He asked.

"No, I won't. I'm sorry about that. And I am _not_ lying." When I was up I realized for the first time how tall Albel was, he was taller than me and I was almost six feet tall.

"Well then, why is it that you did the exact same thing back at the inn?" He asked cooly. With a smirk on his face. My mouth fell open... he was awake?! All that time...he must've heard everything! Albel was smiling, and laughing a little.

"You were awake... weren't you?" I asked quietly. Though I already knew the answer to that question.

"I'm actually a very light sleeper, just so you know." I buried my face in my hands. I wanted to run from him. Never look back. Just keep running till I knew he could never find me. But I didn't, half because of my promise and half because I didn't want to. What was I so embarrassed for? I had nothing to hide, I not like I loved him or anything... right?

"Get a hold of yourself, fool. Let's get going, I'd like to get at least to The Mountains of Barr by nightfall." I looked up at him. The mountains of Barr? I remembered my dream. I couldn't go there. What if we saw an Air Dragon? I would die, just die.

"Now what's the matter with you?" Albel asked rolling his eyes.

"It's nothing." I said as I turned away from him, heading back to Peterney.

"You really are a horrible liar." he said as he walked up next me. I didn't say a word. I just kept walking. Neither of us said another word all through Peterney or Arias. We were in the middle of the mountains when nightfall hit. We found a safe place to stay for the night. Albel started a fire. I was staring at it. As I was looking around I realized I was at the exact same place that I was at in my dream. I was having visions of Albel's father dying, him crying, telling me to protect those that I care about. But I had already failed there. I let my own brother die when I could've saved him. If I had only been a little stronger, or a little smarter... I could have saved him, stopped him from falling off that cliff. I was starting to cry thinking about it.

"Fool, you cry too much... now what's wrong with you?" Albel asked. It wasn't till he said something that I remembered he was even there. I took a deep breath, stopped crying. I asked him something that I thought he would never answer.

"Albel, tell me... how did your father die?" I wasn't even sure if his father was really dead, but I had to get some answers. Albel just looked at me. You could tell that he hadn't thought about his father in a long time.

"How do you know... if he's even dead?" He asked. Now I had to tell him about my dream... it was only right, answers for answers.

"Remember those nightmares I told you about?" I asked. Albel nodded his head, not looking at me.

"Well... they were about you... and your father." I said. Albel turned his eye's to look at me. He looked a little sad, I think. I can't say for sure though.

"Go on. What about me and my old man?"

"He was here... this exact same spot. He was fighting an air dragon and... he was losing to it. Then you came up... you were just a boy. You ran to the dragon, sword in hand, to help your father. The dragon was only after you now... ready to kill you but... your father... your father ran in front of you. Saving your life... by sacrificing his own. Then the dragon just left you there... you were crying. Looking at your father, your arm was burned badly. Then you told me to be able to protect the people that I care about most. And... that's all." I looked over at him. He was just sitting there, staring into the fire. At first I thought it was my imagination but... then I knew... I could tell his cheeks were wet from tears. I suddenly felt horrible... I actually made him _cry_. Ever since I first met him he never once cried... or even looked like he wanted to, not once. I stood up and went over to him. I knelt down beside him. He didn't even seem to notice. I went to put my hand on his shoulder, but he grabbed my wrist to stop me.

"How many times... have you had this dream?" He asked, still gripping my wrist.

"Twice." I said. Then he let go.

"Why you? Why are you dreaming of my fathers death? It's...it's almost exactly the same as... what really happened." He sighed, "I was fifteen. About to perform the ceremony to become a member of the Dragon Brigade... The Accession of Flame, but I failed... I couldn't express my feelings to the air dragon... I should be dead. But it's just as you said, he ran in front of me... killing himself. That's also the reason for this..." He held up the arm with the clawed gauntlet. "I lost my arm in that incident." He looked at the ground. "I watched my father die... right in front of me. You have no idea what that's like."

"I do... know what that's like." I said. Albel looked up at me.

"I watched my older brother fight a Cockatrice, unaware that he was drawing close to the edge of a cliff. He fell off, I ran to help him... but I was too late. He was dead. I didn't know how to fight back then. So I took his sword, and used all the strength I could have ever used and killed that horrid creature, and he has been my motivation ever since."

"Heh... it turns out were a lot alike. I never would have guessed." Albel said. Looking back down to the ground. I couldn't stand it anymore... he looked so sad. I leaned in towards him and hugged him, and, of course, he resisted.

"Let go of me, fool!" he was trying desperately to get free. But he never once tried to hurt me, like I thought he would. I refused to let go, the harder he struggled, the tighter I held him. Slowly he stopped struggling, and he put his arms around me, loosely returning my embrace. I think we were both crying. It seemed like ages before we released. We stared at each other for a while, I was blushing a bit, so was he. I stood up and went over to get my blanket, I laid it out not too close, but not to far away, from Albel's.

"Goodnight, Albel" I said

"...Goodnight..." he waited a while until he thought I was sleeping."...Akina." He whispered. Though, I wasn't sleeping. I couldn't believe it. I stayed awake for a while. I was just thinking about everything tha't happened to me in these last few days. Then I fell asleep.

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Hehe, this chapter was fun to write. Again, please review! I'll update soon! Promise! 


	7. Unexpected Situations

Chapter 7 **_Unexpected situations_**

I heard screeching sounds all around me. I thought I was having another nightmare, but _this_ was real. I opened my eyes. Only to see that there was two air dragons surrounding us, Albel shot up, took out his sword and tossed me mine.

"It's time to show me what you're made of!" Albel yelled over to me. He began attacking one of the dragons. I looked at the other one to find out it was going right for Albel.

"You got it!" I pulled out my sword. I used my triple attack to knock it out of the air. It refocused onto me. It tried to use its talons to grab me. I never remembered fighting a dragon that was this fast before. It ended up scraping my shoulder a little, but not enough to phase me. I turned around to cut it in its side. It let out a loud screech. I looked over to Albel, he seemed to be enjoying every moment of this. His eye's gleamed with rage and excitement. I looked back on my opponent just in time to jump out of the way of its fire bolt. I ran at it and used my Aerial attack to knock it down. I shoved my sword into the ground and used my ultimate attack Reigresa, it was an attack that allowed me to manipulate my target with my sword. The dragon was flown back into the air as I pulled my sword back out again, pointing it at the sky, it was paralyzed for now. I turned to Albel, his opponent was just getting up off the ground, so I ran over to give him a hand. Not like he really needed it, but I wasn't going to just stand there and watch. Albel didn't seem to even see me there, he used his Double Slash attack to get it on the ground. When it was on the ground I used my Swirling Rage attack to do some damage to it. Albel was completely focused on the dragon in front of him. It was in the air again, I looked back at my opponent, it had just come out of its paralysis. I ran back to it, gripped my sword with both hands and swung it up towards the dragon, I had a direct hit in the dragons' neck. The sound it made was skull piercing. It was like hearing Albel's clawed gauntlet on a plate...over and over again. I pulled my sword out of the dragon's neck. I ran from it and used my Ice Needles symbology. Then Albel was at my side, I looked back and his was dead already. We both obviously had the same idea on how to kill these things because, we jumped into the air at the exact same time and slashed the dragon with our swords. I slashed upwards he slashed down and the dragon was defeated. We landed back on the ground in unison too.

"Turns out your not that bad, after all." Albel said, he was breathing heavily.

"Heh...better start watching your back...in case I decide to turn on you." I was out of breath, myself

"Bah...I said you were good but, your not _that_ good." He said turning to go collect our things so we could continue on.

"Wanna bet?" He stopped in his tracks, turned his head to one side, looking at me through the corner of his eye.

"Fool, I would annihilate you. So unless you _want_ to be killed, let it go." He started to collect our things.

"Uh-huh, sure...coward." He either didn't hear me, or pretended not to, so I just went over to help. When everything was packed up, we went to the entrance to the cave behind the waterfall.

"I hate this place. It's always so dark." I said. I stopped walking.

"Deal with it." Albel said as he walked ahead of me. I sighed, and here I thought he softened up a little. I guess trying to soften him up was like trying to soften a rock, impossible without a lot of hard work put into it, But I was determined enough, if it was the last thing I ever did, I was going to soften him up. Even if it was just a little.

"Are you coming or not?" Albel yelled. This brought me out of my chain of thought. Then I realized how far behind I was, I couldn't even _see_ Albel anymore.

"Hey...where are you?" There was no answer. Was he just trying to scare me? Or was he really gone? I looked in every direction but I couldn't see anything, and I didn't hear any footsteps either. I just stood there, I was trying my best to stay calm, it wasn't going well, ever since that first nightmare, I've hated darkness.

"This isn't funny!" Still, there was no answer. Then I saw a light flash by my eyes, it landed on the floor, it was a lightstone. I had just realized this when I heard fast pace footsteps, I turned to see Albel rushing at me, he pushed me to the ground and grabbed both of my wrists.

"What are you doing?!" I yelled at him, he just smiled.

"See? _That's_ how easy it would be for me...or anyone else for that matter, to come up and kill you." He let go of my wrists and got up to go get the lightstone. Before he got a chance to turn around to face me, I got up right behind him, he turned around. I punched him right in the face, harder than I had meant to, but at that point, I didn't even care.

"Don't you _ever_...do that again!" I yelled. He took out his sword, but then stopped and slowly put it back into the sheath. He put his hand above his eye. There was a cut. He looked at the blood on his fingers, then he just started to walk again, the lightstone still in his hand.

"What? Are you too soft to do anything to me now?" I asked as he walked past me, he stopped and turned. He got really serious looking all the sudden.

"Trust me...all I want to do right now is tare you limb from limb, but you know what? I'm not going to do that, at least not right now. But believe me, when you die...it _will _be because of my sword piercing straight through your heart." He turned and walked away, I followed from a distance. Great, now he was mad at me again, just what I needed. I started to feel bad about punching him so hard. Wait, why did I feel bad? He got what he deserved after scaring me like that. Now I was angry with myself, for feeling sorry for him. We kept walking through the caves in silence, besides the occasional enemy. We had been walking a while before I realized that I had seen certain things twice and some even three times.

"Uhh...Albel are you sure you know where you're going?" he didn't answer me. I ran to catch up with him. I looked at his face...it was so blank and pale.

"Hey, are you alright?" Still no answer, he didn't even look at me. I went to take hold of his wrist, he turned and punched me, sending me flying into the wall of the cave.

"What's...wrong with you?!" He dropped the lightstone, took out his sword and charged at me. I had just enough time to take out my own sword to block his attack. I was pushing back his sword but he was starting to overpower me. I looked into his eyes, they were so blank, his entire face showed no emotion at all.

"You must...be under some kind...of spell." At this point he had me against the cave wall, his sword just inches away from my face. I had to get him out of this before he killed me. But what could I do? I was pinned on the wall of a cave, focusing all my strength on staying alive. All I could think of was my dream...it was just so similar. Just like the air dragons this morning...was it just a coincidence? Or was it a hint? I couldn't believe what I was planning on doing, but it was either that, or die right now. My sword was cutting through my own hand because I was pushing on it so hard, and it was starting to cut my throat. So I did the only thing I could think of to stay alive...I closed my eyes and lifted my head off from the wall to kiss him. My sword was digging into my neck even more by doing so but, slowly the pressure lessened, it was working, he was coming out of it. My sword came out of my throat. I dropped it, hurting my hand as I did so. Then I heard Albel's sword fall. I thought of his reaction to what I was doing, I suddenly got really nervous but, to my surprise there was a return in my kiss. I could've stopped it then, but...I never did. I felt his hand on my cheek, it was ice cold, I was startled by it at first but I didn't care. After a few seconds, he released, I opened my eyes, he was looking right at me. Then he looked at my throat and my hand. He picked his sword up off the ground, looking at the blood on it. He put his head down, chucked his sword to his side and hugged me, I couldn't believe it. But I was kinda glad, I put my arms around him.

"I'm...sorry. I let Romero's curse take hold of me...I had no control over my actions...and I end up doing this to you." He whispered

"It's alright. Don't blame yourself...besides the damage isn't that bad."

"That doesn't matter, it doesn't change that fact that I could've killed you because of my own stupid mistake...just like my father." There was a long silence, I didn't know what to say. We released from our embrace.

"Let's get out of here." I said. I picked up my sword wiped off my blood and put it back in the sheath, Albel picked up his sword then went over to get the lightstone. Then he came back over to me to bandage my hand and my throat. The wounds themselves weren't that bad, but they sure did hurt a lot.

"The...exit's not too far off." Albel said, his voice was a little shaky, he started to walk off. I ran up to him and grabbed his hand. He looked over at me.

"You still trust me after that?" He asked

"You don't scare me" I said smiling

"heh, obviously not. But still...you have to be careful now, if I get angry at you like that again...get away from me, alright?"

"I won't let it happen again and, even if it does...I know what to do now." I said, blushing.

"About that...what made you decide to kiss me anyway?" He asked looking at me. I was surprised, I wasn't expecting him to actually ask me that. I waited a moment.

"...I just...well...it was because that's what happened in my dream, you stabbed me, then you kissed me so...I just kissed you."

"Oh...I see, so you did whatever you had to in order to stay alive. Am I right?"

"Well...yeah it was just to stay alive..." Albel looked away from me, I shook my head. "...but just...at _first_."

"So it...was for real then?" He looked at me through the corner of his eye.

"Well, don't you think if it wasn't, I would've stopped it after your sword fell?" I said, smiling at him. He smiled back at me but he didn't ever say a word. We reached the exit of the cave and the entrance to the Urssa Lava Caves just a moment later.

"Do you want to continue on? Or stop here for now and go inside the caves tomorrow? So we have a chance to toughen up a bit. The monsters in there will be stronger than normal, because of Romero." He asked.

"I think I should train a bit first, though it's still early yet. You sure we can afford to stop like this now?"

"Yeah, it'll be fine. Don't worry about it." he said, setting down his things, I put down mine. We ended up training more than we planned on. It was late before we went to sleep. Albel fell asleep first. I wondered if it was really true, that I loved him, I didn't think so until today, but I still wasn't sure. Did he even love me back? He _definitely_ never seemed to be the loving type to me, but if he didn't, then why would he have kissed me back, earlier? I ended up falling asleep thinking about this.


	8. The King Of The Dead

Chapter 8 **_The King of the Dead_**

I woke up because of a sudden extreme heat rushing in on me. I sat up a looked over to where Albel was sleeping, he was gone. I noticed that the door leading into the lava caves was open now. I figured that he had gone inside. I got up and walked over to the door, I had to cover my eyes with my hand because it was so hot in this place. I started to walk inside.

"Albel...You in here?!" I yelled. As I did this, I saw him through the mist and smoke.

"Can't you ever just stay put for once in your life?" He asked walking up beside me.

"Yeah sure I could, but only if I wanted to. And just so you know, I never do. What were you doing anyway?" I asked. He waited a moment before answering.

"Just checking everything, making sure that the route was still the same as it used to be."

"And?"

"It's all the same, so whenever you're ready, we can leave." I immediately went over to pack everything up. Today was the last day we had to kill Romero. So we had to hurry.

"Ok, let's get going." I said

"You're sure in a hurry." Albel said

"Well of course I am... today is the last we have to kill this guy, right?"

"...Yeah" I was expecting him to look worried, but he didn't look worried at all. But he had to be, I mean how could he not be?

"Aren't you nervous...even a little?" I asked as we walked inside the caves. The heat was overwhelming at first. But it gradually got better.

"No, not really. Now that your here, I can break his barrier so he'll be simple."

"Aren't you being just a little overconfident in yourself? He might be tougher than you think."

"Bah, you obviously still don't know who your talking to...besides the only thing that was tough about him was his barrier and that's no longer a problem."

"Whatever you say...just don't go rushing right in and getting yourself killed, okay?"

"That won't happen."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"Alright then." I looked around and I noticed a door behind a pile of rocks.

"Where doe's that door go?" I asked. Albel looked over at it, his eyes narrowed and he smiled.

"It leads straight where we need to go..." He walked over to it "...this must be the shortcut he was talking about."

"Who?"

"Romero, the last time I came here to face him, he said that I was being stupid for going the long way every time."

"Yeah, but there's only one problem."

"What's that?"

"How are we going to get to the door? Those stupid boulders are in the way." Albel walked around it a couple times, and then shook his head.

"Not exactly sure on that part yet." I went over to help him try to figure out what we were going to do. We tried a lot of different things, but our attempts were in vain. We sat there for a while just looking at it. I could tell Albel was starting to get angry.

"You know, there is still the long way, we could go that way." I suggested. Albel sighed and shook his head.

"No we can't, I wasn't planning on telling you this...but there wouldn't have been enough time to go that way. It takes at the least a day and a half to get through that way."

"And you weren't going to tell me this?!" Albel shook his head, "What if I hadn't noticed that door? You would have been dead for sure...did you really want that?! Because I really hope you didn't."

"You care too much about others, you know that? You should look out for yourself more."

"What for? So I can end up like you and not even care if I die, just as long as I didn't need to ask for someone's help?"

"...We're wasting time fighting about this." Albel said. I knew he was just trying to change the subject, but he was right. I was so mad at him for this, all I wanted to do was take out my sword and make him fly into the wall with my Reigresa. That sounded like a really good idea...hey wait a second...

"...That's it..." I stood up and walked up to the boulders.

"What?" Albel asked, standing up.

"Reigresa...It's an attack that allows me to control my target, I can use it to move the boulders."

"And what made you think of this all the sudden? You obviously didn't think of it earlier."

"I wanted to use it on you and fling you into the wall with it." I said, smiling. He looked over at me.

"Look, I didn't tell you because...I didn't want you to get all worried about it."

"And you didn't think I would've been worried if we were only halfway through the Temple by nightfall?" I was being very serious with him at this point.

"I guess...I never thought about that." He admitted.

"Figures...never thinking things through. You see why I'm worried that you'll do something stupid while we're fighting Romero?"

"heh...you have a point...I guess." I sighed. I took out my sword, pointed it at the boulders and circled them.

"Reigresa!" The boulders glowed red, I moved my sword up, then to the left, shoving the boulders into the wall.

"Turns out you're pretty useful." Albel said, smiling. I put my sword back in the sheath.

"Please, you would have already been dead if it wasn't for me. I'm _extremely_ useful." I said. We were both laughing a little.

"Well...here we go." I said. I was really nervous, I hoped that this man wasn't too powerful, but Albel and I were pretty strong now so, I was hoping we could pull this off.

"When we go in there, we can't turn back."

"I know."

"I want you to hide when we get in there, okay? I don't want him to see you right away."

"I can do that, when do you want me to come out?"

"I'll tell you...just stay alert."

"Alright." He walked to the front of the door and pushed it open. Everything got cooler and the entire area seemed to be ash and rock. Albel pointed to a crevasse in the wall, I ran to it and hid there.

"Romero! Get out here!" Albel yelled. I heard a rumbling and a throne came up from underground. There he was, he was dressed in red, his hair was long and black, and his skin was pale white, I also noticed that he had a sword in a sheath on his side.

"So, you decided to give it one final try before your soul becomes mine, did you?" He said with a smirk.

"Your mine this time Romero, I won't lose to you again!"

"Considering the fact that your on your own once again. I seriously dought that."

"We'll see about that!" Albel took out his sword. Romero got up and started running towards Albel, he pulled out his own sword, it was a Flaming Blade sword. I could see his barrier around him.

"Akina...Now!" Albel yelled. I jumped out of the crevasse and ran toward Romero, Albel at my side. Romero was surprised by my sudden appearance, but of course this is what Albel wanted to happen. We both took our swords and pierced Romeros' barrier with them and it disappeared.

"So, you figured it out...I'm surprised, but no matter. You're nothing to me even with your little friend." He chanted something and there was suddenly a wall of, what looked like to me, blood that surrounded us.

"Just in case you try to run." Romero said

"No chance! We wouldn't be so _kind_ to you!" I yelled. He looked at me with this blank stare.

"Akina! Break eye contact...now!" Albel yelled at me...but I couldn't, his eyes were taking hold of me. Albel slashed his katana into Romeros' side, making him cry out in pain. I looked away from him, Albel took hold of my shoulders.

"You okay? Look at me." Albel said. I looked at him only to notice Romero right behind him, ready to strike. I pushed him out of the way, Romeros' sword clashed with mine.

"Well aren't you a feisty one." Romero said. _That_ made me angry. Feisty? I'll show him feisty. I pushed his sword down and kicked him to the ground. Albel shoved his sword into his stomach. Romero screamed, but he pulled out Albels' sword, Albel being pushed back in the process. Romero jumped up to slash Albel in the back with his sword.

"Albel!" I ran to Albel and caught him before he fell to the ground. The cut was deep. Albel was shaking.

"I'm fine! Focus on Romero! You wanna die here?!" I looked up, Romero was about to strike him again, I put my sword in his way, stopping him for a moment, he was pushing back, overpowering me with his sword.

"You wretched woman! Get out of my way! Unless you have a death wish."

"You're so full of yourself, you have no idea who you're dealing with!" I grabbed Albel and jumped back as I let Romeros' sword cut into the ground. Albel pushed himself up to stand, he looked like he was in pain, but was running at Romero, he slashed his side then turned to slash his back. Romero fell to the floor.

"Alright that's it, I've...had enough of this!" Romero said as he put his hand out towards me.

"Sariyous!' Romero yelled at me. I suddenly felt a burning in my throat, then my wrist, and then my stomach.

"The wounds?!" Albel yelled as he ran over to me. He was right, the wounds that he had inflicted on me were coming back they were exactly the same...except they burned and hurt about ten times worse than the last time, Albel caught me as I fell to the floor, he knelt beside me.

"How the _hell_ did you do this!" He yelled as he turned his head towards Romero.

"Simple...I read her memory while she was under my trance. And recreated the wound that had mysteriously disappeared."

"Albel I'll...be...fine just kill him...you're almost out...of time." I said to him. It was difficult to breathe. He looked at me then at Romero. He got really angry.

"I'll kill you for this!" He yelled at him as he charged up and pierced him through his heart.

"Damn...you!" He pulled out the sword. But how was he still alive? That should've killed him. The only way he could still be alive is if he was...

"The living dead." Albel said "That's why I can't kill you!"

"Correct...your facing the King of the Dead!" Romero said. I thought I was going to pass out, or I was going to die here. The pain was overwhelming me, I suddenly saw Albel run to me.

"Akina...just hold on, you'll be okay...That's a promise!" Albel said.

"He's...right behind...you..." I whispered, Albel looked behind him, just in time to block Romeros' attack. I looked over to my other side and I saw my brother, I couldn't believe what I was seeing, now I was sure that I was going to die. After a moment Albel's father came up to stand next to my brother.

"Don't worry, that's a promise that he will keep Akina." Albel's father said. He and my brother walked up to me.

"Just hold still." My brother told me. Then he took out a vile of some kind of potion, and put a drop of it into my wounds. I felt the pain start to recede little by little. Then it became easier to breathe. I watched as the wounds disappeared.

"Are you the ones...that healed me in the first place?" I asked them, they nodded, then they disappeared, revealing the fighting that was taking place still. I got up and ran up to Romero and put my sword to his neck. The look on his face was pure surprise mixed with fear.

"You...really underestimated me and Albel and now because of your foolish mistake, your going to die here." I said

"That's what you think." He pointed behind me. Then I thought of the time. I turned around to see Albel fall to the ground. My eyes widened. He wasn't moving. I dropped my sword and ran to him and fell by his side, I was crying.

"No! Not now!" I put my head down on his chest. He was dead because I took too long. I heard Romero laughing behind me, I lifted my head up and looked right at him.

"You!" I stood up and ran at him, picked up my sword hat laid at the ground in front of him in an instant but he kicked me away as I was standing up. I was on the ground I looked up at him. He was smiling.

"Albel...take care of her." Romero said. I looked over at Albel He stood up. He came running at me, sword in hand. I ran from him, I didn't know what else to do. I wasn't going to fight him. Then Romero appeared in front of me, I ran into him and fell to the ground. Albel tried to pierce his sword into me but I rolled out of the way of the sword. I got up on my knees by the time Albels' sword was upon me again. he cut my shoulder. Albels' face was just as before.

"Albel stop this, I know you don't want to do this!" I yelled as his sword cut into my side. Romero was laughing again.

"You don't get it do you? It doesn't matter what he wants to do...he does whatever I tell him to." He said. He was going to attack me again, but this time I was able to block it. Though he was pushing me back. I tripped on a stone that was on the ground. As I was falling I had a lot of flashbacks of our journey together. I hit the ground Albel was pushing down on my sword hard. I looked in his blank red eyes. Then I realized for the first time that...

"Albel...I...I love you!" I was crying, I knew it for sure now. I really did love him. But it was already too late, he was under Romeros' control now. I looked at him. He showed no emotion but...there were tears falling from his eyes.

"You can hear me." I whispered.

"Shut up girl! It's too late, he belongs to me!" Romero said

"T-That's not true...R-Romero!" Albel said. I looked at his eyes they were returning to normal. I couldn't believe it.

"Damn you!" Romero can running at us, Albel shoved both of our swords into him. This time it looked like it truly was hurting him. Then I noticed Albel's father off to the side, he was smiling at me. I smiled back, then he came over to Romero. Albel looked up.

"Father?" He said.

"I just wanted to say congratulations, son. And please...stop blaming yourself for my death...I did it out of love, just as she was going to."

"But I-"

"I have to go, and I'm taking this one with me..." He grabbed Romero, "Goodbye son, and Akina...thank you for saving my son." I nodded, he left us. I stood up so did Albel. Turned to me.

"I thought you were dead, when you stopped breathing. I just gave up after that. I had no idea..." Albels' voice trailed off.

"When I saw you fall I...I wished that I _was_ dead. I didn't want to believe it." I was crying again, I found myself hugging him.

"And…uh…just so you know...I was telling the truth. I really do love you. I know that now." I said, anxious for a response from him. I thought I had made a mistake telling him this when he never said anything back. In fact, he didn't say anything for quite a while. Until I heard him take a deep breath.

"I...I love you too." He said as he hugged me tighter. I don't think I could've been happier, at that moment I must've been the happiest person in the whole universe. I was sure of it.

"I…never thought I would ever say that to anyone in my entire life." Albel said, I laughed a little.

"Neither did I." I said. Albel pulled away from me, looking right into my eyes. I noticed that his eyes seemed to be a lot softer than they used to be, he kissed me. After, he looked around for a moment. Then sighed.

"We should probably head back tomorrow when it lighter outside. It'll be safer that way." Albel said

"Yeah you're probably right. Besides our wounds need to heal a little. Wait…that reminds me what about the gash in your back?" I asked him. He turned around. It was gone.

"heh...my brother healed you."

"Your…brother?"

"Yeah, he's also the one that healed the wound's that I had from before...that's why they were gone so quickly."

"Oh, that make's some sense. Well, we better get going. We should at least be back at the entrance of the caves before we stop and rest. Alright?"

"Yeah, okay. It's not that far away anyway." We took our swords and made our way back to the entrance. We bandaged up the cuts and wounds we still had and then laid down our blankets. They were closer together this time. Albel and I were closer now than we had ever been before. I had never loved someone like this, not until today. It made me smile. After everything that had happened you would think we would fall asleep quickly. But we ended up staying up most of that night talking about our pasts. I bet we didn't actually fall asleep until three hours later.


End file.
